Prayer offered for rain

Salaat-ul-istisqa, or, as us desis would put it, namaz-e-istisqa, which is the prayer for rain, was offered on the green belt between sectors G-10 and G-11 yesterday morning. It was a fairly small gathering. May Allah accept their prayers and give Pakistan the much needed rain. May Allah accept their prayers and give Islooites lots of snowfall in Murree,.

37 Comments so far

Not that the lovely Islamabad folk bother to go see the snow. Last I went to see the snowfall , I literally only saw a couple of Islamabad cars. It was all Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot lads with their shirts off dancing as it snowed.

@ AnonymousDesi
Sir, can you give me one good reason why can’t or why shouldn’t we discuss the beliefs of a faith. Do you mean to say that we should also not criticize or discuss the beliefs of the Taliban.
I think no religion should have any special status and above criticism. We should be able to discuss it like we can discuss government policies, manefestos of political parties and conduct of public figures.

You are wrong about America. In America there is freedom of speech plus they don’t have blesphemy laws like us.

If Allah’s will is prevalent in every deed then why are the infidels born infidels? Are they made infidels on purpose because there is class/regional bias?!

And Kabir Das, you are right, the spread of scientific knowledge has in fact taken the irons to religion. Not just Islam, every religion. To think that tantamount evidence has been found on the fact that Darwins theory of evolution through natural selection was in fact a fact so to speak.

But yes, all our nation can do in times like these is pray. Because they are useless to do anything else?… Why doesn’t our nation realize that Pakistan is going to be the 6th greatest hit country by climate change? Yet the Copenhagen conference was not even paid any heed?

Sad I ask you, maybe Mufti Mujibur Rehman thought it’d be better to pray that Global warming doesn’t take place and that in the future if they go to someones house their mithais are scanned to prevent further embarrassment.

Sir, I just finished second reading of Richard Dawkins book ‘The God Delusion’. You must read it. You would love it. I have now started readig his latest book, ‘The Greatist Show on Earth’. This is about the evidence of evolution. I have read 7 of his 9 books, all about evlution. You must read him if you have not done so already.

Hey @Kabir Das long time no see. Good to hear from you. But I am afraid that you are preaching to a crowd that is reluctant to use the faculties of the brain that separate humans from the rest of the living beings on this planet.

I picked this book up and put it back on the book store shelf on a number of occasions, finally I bought it during holiday season and since then found it hard to put it down. If you have not read it, then its a MUST MUST read. After a very long time I read something that boosted my pride as a Pakistani, at the same time, “that Man’s” greatness put me to shame and my eyes watered while going through certain passages.

What truth? Faith is a fire in the heart, like poetry. You cannot prove God, just as you cannot prove his absence. Also, to be fair, you need to look at more documentaries that scientifically show the possibility of existence of a higher being. Cheers and don’t fight

The existence of a higher being has been debated a lot. A lot of documentaries made by creationists in fact tell this. BUT, wouldn’t you agree, if man is as complex as we say he is, and that there is NO chance that it could have just evolved out of nowhere and that man was created by a higher being. Then a complex human created by a complex being, doesn’t that raise the question of who created the complex being who created the complex human?!

@sufiblade. I myself am an unbeliver but am not against those who believe. I am just against those ( unlike you) who are self righteous, close minded and not open to argument. You have the word “sufi” in your nick and I love the Sufi philosophy of “God is within” and its all love. No surprises when sufi’s are termed as heretics by the self righteous crowd.This philosophy derives its roots from ancient antiquities, indeed “Christos” has been around way before the legend of “Christ” itself.

At this very moment I am waiting for the CDA bowser to supply some water. What has been the response of God to your prayers for rain. Is he prepared to change his laws for his chosen people or not?
By the way are there some special prayers for the power supply also which you may invoke to provide us some relief on this account.

I am now suffering so much because of the shortage of water that I pray for your being right and my Guru Bertrand Russell being wrong who said in ‘Impact of Science on Society’ as follows:

Quote.
It is not by prayers and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring knowledge of natural laws. The power you acquire in this way is much greater and more reliable than that was formely supposed to be acquired by prayer, because you never could tell whether your prayers would be favourably heard in Heaven. The power of prayer, moreover, had recognised limits; it would have been impious to ask too much. But the power of science has no known limits. We were told that faith could move mountains, but no one believed it; we ar now told that atomic bomb can move mountains,and every one believes it.
Unquote.

“Interestingly as science advances, there seems to be less and less for God to do. Evolving in front of our eyes is the God of the Gaps; that is, whatever we cannot explain is attributed to God. And then after a while, we explain it, and so that’s no longer God’s realm. The theologians give that one up, and it walks over onto the science side of the duty roster.

God has been evolving to a do nothing king, who gets the universe going, establishes the laws of nature, and then retires and goes somewhere else”

It may be relevent to quote Richard Dawkins from his book THE GOD DELUSION in this context as follows:

Quote.
The dictionary supplied with microsoft Word defines a deluson as a ‘persistent’false belief held in the face of trong contradictory evdence, specially as a symptom of a psychiatric dsorder.’ The first part captures religious faith perfectly. As to whether it is a symptom of a psychiatric disorder, I am inclind to follow Robert M. Pirsig, author of ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE:
‘Whe oe person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. Whe many people suffer from a delusion it is called Relgion.’
Unquote.

I feel sorry for the God of the Gaps because the gaps shrink as science advances, and God is threatened with eventually having nothing to do and nowhere to hide like an IDP. I also feel sorry for his followers who seem to be worshiping the gaps and praying for rain.

“If the people of this religion are asked about the proof for the soundness of their religion, they flare up, get angry and spill the blood of whoever confronts them with this question. They forbid rational speculation, and strive to kill their adversaries. This is why truth became thoroughly silenced and concealed”

According to a news item in today’s The News Intikhab Alam and his charges prayed on Sunday for divine intervention in the form of rain to avert their defeat in the final test match. Their prayers were answered and it did rain on Monday but it did not rain enough to save them from the defeat.

It goes to show God does answer prayers favourably. But it also shows that God apparently is not familier with the rules of the game otherwise he would have sent more rain to do the job:-)